Kahi Ankahi

Chapter 1

Assalam Alaikum guys! Eid ul Adha Mubarak! I hope you all have a blessed day tomorrow. As promised, here is my early update. I'm very excited to start this story and I hope that you all love it.

"Qiraaaaat! Jaldi yaar!"

"Haan baba! Aarahi hoon!" I yelled as I slid the jhumka in my ear. The endless knocks surprisingly came to a halt. I grabbed my dupatta from the sofa arm and placed it on my right shoulder. I secured the dupatta with a safety pin so that it doesn't fall. I opened my bedroom door and stepped out.

"Kab se knock kar rahi hoon, par madam ko tayyaar hone se fursat hi nahi hai." My cousin and best friend, Iqra, frowned. "Neeche Hussain tujhe pagalon ki tarah dhoond raha hai. Your performance is about to start!" She spoke as we walked towards the staircase. Hussain is our cousin. We both share the same relation with him, except that Iqra's father is my father's elder brother.

"Waise tu bohat pyaari lag rahi hai." She complimented.

"Haina? Bas isiliye mujhe ready hone mein time lag gaya. Yaar, sheeshe se nazar hat hi nahi rahi thi." I replied, dramatically.

"Aye haye! Meri gudiya (doll) ko kisi ki nazar na lage." She said, like an elderly woman, putting a 'kajal ka tika' behind my ear. We both broke into laughter at this gesture of her.

"Dramebaaz." I said, still laughing.

"Acha chal ab. Hussain must be waiting." She grabbed my arm and practically dragged me down the stairs.

The house was beautifully decorated with yellow and orange flowers. After all today is Ayesha Baji's mehendi. Ayesha Baji is Iqra's elder sister. For me she is the older sister I never had. I'm my parent's only child but I'm so thankful to Allah for he has blessed me with such amazing cousins that never ever made me feel alone. I stepped outside in the backyard where we were supposed to perform. We had set a stage up decorated with lights and flowers. On either sides of the stage were two swings, also decorated with flowers, for Ayesha Baji and Ahmed Bhai to sit. It was kind of a 'Ladke wale VS Ladki wale' thing. From the ladki ki side, everyone wanted me and Hussain to perform since we're 'good at dancing', as everyone likes to say.

"Haye, Qirat baji, aap bohat pyaari lag rahi hain." Sara, Iqra's younger sister, complimented me. "Thank you meri jaan. Aap bhi kuch kam nahi lag rahe ho." I replied, pinching her cheeks lightly. She grinned innocently before turning to Iqra. "Aapi, aapko ammi bula rahi hain." She informed. "She's standing there. Acha ab main jaarahii hoon." She pointed at Tai jaan before running away.

"Yeh ladki bhi na. Do minute sukoon se ek jagah nahi teher sakti." Iqra shook her head, clearly annoyed by her sister.

"Koi baat nahi, Iqra, koi baat nahi agar usne teri taareef nahi ki toh." I laughed.

She mimicked my laughter which made me laugh even harder. "Chudail. Go, find your Hussain." She said, winking at me.

I blushed like an idiot and began searching the crowd. My eyes scanned the faces and stopped at that particular face. He seemed like he was searching someone too. I approached him and...

"Bhoo" I scared him from behind. He jumped a little.

"Damn. You startled me! And where have you been? Main tumhe dhoond dhoond ke pagal horaha hoon." He sighed deeply. I just laughed.

"You look beautiful." He smiled.

"I know!" I replied in a 'I'm the best' tone.

He shook his head laughing.

"Chalo, we're performing in 5 minutes."

I nodded and walked towards the stage.

"...and now ladki walon ki taraf se we have Qirat and Hussain performing! A big round of applause for these two." The announcer who was from the ladke wale announced. He had bad speaking skills, by the way.

We walked up to stage and Hussain took over the mic.

"Yeh kahaani hai Ayesha aur Ahmed ki. Woh pehli baar kisi Banno naami ladki ki shaadi pe mile thay aur pehli nazar mein hi Ahmed Ayesha ko apna dil de baitha..." he smirked as the music blasted from the speakers. This was like Hussain's most favourite song. It's always playing in his car and he keeps on singing it which is quite annoying.

Banno ki saheli
Resham ki dori
Chhup chhup ke sharmaye
Dekhe chori chori
Yeh maane ya na maane
Main toh ispe mar gayaaa

We danced to the song and it came to an end, with the next song starting right away.

I, toh go crazy, ke jab wajde punjabi wedding song
Dholon ke beaton pe main ta dholnaa
Haye sharam chhad ke, laga jhatke
Hai ismein nothing wrong

We grooved to the beats, with the crowd cheering and chanting.

Kaho Rab ko hazaron shukrana
Ghar mere bhi nazar nazraana
Kar tere varga hi, tere jaisa hi changa mahiya

I stared in his gorgeous brown eyes. I wish you were mine. Before I made a fool of myself, I brought myself back to reality and returned to the dance mood.

Senti main hoti aur mental dholna

We ended the our performance and stepped off the stage.

"You were amazing, Qirat!" Hussain hugged me.

"Thanks, so were you!" I replied, smiling.

"You both were SUPERB!" Iqra hugged both of us. "Kasam se yaar! Kya naachte ho!" She added.

We both just laughed and hugged her back.

A few more people came and told us how good our performance was.

---

The mehendi ceremony was over. Almost all the guests had left and the few that were still here were excusing themselves too. What a great day it was today. All I missed was Ammi and Abbu. They'd gone on a business trip to Turkey and were supposed to be here before the mehendi ceremony but their flight got rescheduled. They will be here day after tomorrow.

Once all the guests were gone, I went to Iqra's room that we're sharing since I'm staying here at Taya jaan's place. I changed into a light and loose cotton shalwar kameez that I use as a night suit. Iqra would probably come a bit late after she is done eating dinner (again) and especially the mithaais (sweets). This girl, she eats so much and still manages to look so slim and smart. She works out a lot.

I slipped out of my thoughts and drifted to sleep.

So that, my friends, was the first chapter.

Did you like it?

Please vote and comment. It will mean a lot.

Love you x